The question will be posed endless times between now and May. It’s one that Tracy Smith has tried to eliminate from his lexicon but one that, with every close win, swirls around the seats of Phoenix Municipal Stadium as a reminder for how far they’ve come.

Would the Sun Devils have won that game last year?

The images of Alec Marsh chucking a routine underhand throw three feet over Spencer Torkelson’s head. Of Connor Higgins throwing a ninth-inning wild pitch that allowed the winning run to score against Saint Mary’s. Of Hunter Bishop dropping a practice pop-up against Arizona, allowing runs to score in the seventh for what would become a Wildcats’ walk off.

They’re seared into the minds of those around Tempe,

Sun Devil players and coaches haven’t forgotten some of the horrid mistakes and mishaps of a year ago. Heck, eight games in, it’s not 100 percent clear that they are all fixed. But after ASU’s 4-3 victory over Pepperdine (3-4) in front of 1,776 Tuesday, it showed it can still win despite a few blips.

After a fielding error by third baseman Gage Workman in the top of the eighth inning that allowed runners on first and second, freshman Blake Burzell came into pitch.

Burzell, who only threw his high-velocity fastball which topped out at 94 mph Tuesday, was named the opening-day closer but, because of continuous Sun Devil blowouts, never got to try his hand in the role.

Tuesday was his first litmus test.

How the ASU (8-0) defense responded drew flashbacks. With one out and runners first and second, Pepperdine left fielder Matt Kanfer grounded a ball to Swift at second. A quick flip to Alika Williams standing on second would lead to a double play, an inning-ender to throw a little confidence on Burzell.

Instead, Swift threw the ball about two feet away from Williams outreached arm. Bases-loaded, everyone’s safe.

“I didn’t feel any pressure,” Burzell said.

Instead of an over-anxious reliever getting pushed off the edge, Burzell shook it off. After throwing three-straight hard fastballs, Pepperdine catcher Charlie Welch popped up a sac fly to right. All the sudden, ASU was down 4-3 with runners on second and third after a Pepperdine steal.

No matter.

Having unwarranted trust in an infield that just thrust him into this mess, Burzell kept attacking. Fastball. Fastball. Fastball. He repeated his signature pitch nine times, battling with Duncan McKinnon and ultimately forcing the Waves’ third baseman into popping a foul ball up near the Pepperdine dugout.

“This was a huge step for us maturity-wise,” Left fielder Trevor Hauver said. “I think last season if that happened we were kind of like, ‘Oh man, here we go.’ But we’ve really got some guys now in the pen that Blake and (starter Erik) Tolman who can really shut it down for us. We know whoever makes an error, if there is an error, they’re going to make the next play.”

Hauver’s seventh-inning two-run shot to dead center (which he and Smith admitted would have been a warning-track out had the fences not been pushed in this season) moved the Devils past a 2-2 tie and ended up being the difference.

Burzell, though, had the honors of finishing and sealing ASU’s eighth win of the season, a mark that took the club 14 games to reach a season ago. There was to be no doubts this time. The 6-foot-6 righty fired off 12-straight fastballs, sending the Devils home after a 1-2-3 inning.

“Couldn’t have gone any better,” Smith said of Burzell’s outing. “We haven’t seen enough of these (freshman pitchers) to see how they’re going to react under pressure. That’s a check in the positive column for (Burzell) because that was a disaster going on behind him defensively and I think a lot of guys would have folded. He kept his composure and still made pitchers and still got us out of that with a win.”

When the 12th fastball slammed into catcher Sam Ferri’s glove, Burzell’s reaction, zeroed in, would have led any onlooker to believe that right there, in front of 1,776 at Phoenix Muni, he had just won the World Series.

The lengthy freshman chucked his glove down in emphatic joy, tossing his arms up as he ran to hug Ferri and the rest of his teammates funneling in towards the mound. At that moment, it seemed, ASU had shed the mold of last season.

“I get worked up,” Burzell said. “It was kind of just all that hard work, 6 am lifts, everything we’ve done in the preseason, just how we’re the underdogs. I just want us to go 56-0. Every game is like the biggest game. Even though it was my first save it felt like the biggest game of the year.”

A year ago, the Sun Devils were 4-16 in games decided by two runs. They’re already 2-0. Sure the thin depth -- of just 25 players and 12 pitchers -- may catch up to them in due time. Right now, though, they seem to be just fine.

Smith echoed a sentiment most probably heard from a little-league coach when they were kids: Pitching and defense wins baseball games. ASU failed in both last year and it hurt dearly. They still aren’t perfect in those areas yet, but it’s not costing them games -- and that’s a wide step in the right direction